Do not look back.
Ji Youyou do not look back.
Run.
Run as hard as you can.
She was caught in an endless loop.
A corridor of light that twisted and turned forever.
The walls blazed with shifting dazzle like shattered glass.
The light made her head spin and her vision blur.
A steady beeping sound filled her ears.
Static and broken.
Sharp and maddening.
Behind her her mother came running.
Her head hung twisted like a broken spider.
She called out in a rasping metallic voice that sent chills down Ji Youyou’s spine.
Youyou come to Mother.
Come back inside me.
Her father ran after her too.
He carried a roaring chainsaw.
Ji Youyou could only run.
She dared not stop.
Terror closed in around her.
She did not know how long she had been running.
Her legs grew cold and heavy.
Her throat burned with every breath.
She could barely breathe.
She was so afraid.
So very afraid.
Someone help me.
She had never run so hard in her life.
At last her strength gave out.
She fell.
Will I die?
Will it hurt?
Will they kill me?
She lay gasping on the ground.
She was half awake and half trapped.
She could not move.
It was the worst feeling of all.
Fully conscious and utterly helpless.
Her mother and father drew near.
They laughed wildly.
They screamed her name.
She closed her eyes.
Let it come.
Pain or death.
Anything to end this torment.
She surrendered.
But the blow did not fall.
When she opened her eyes she saw Xie Lin and Yu Xuanhe standing before her.
They were bathed in holy light.
Their robes were white and soft as snow.
Behind Xie Lin glowed a pale silver shield like the moon.
Behind Yu Xuanhe blazed a golden shield like the sun.
Their faces were breathtaking.
One cold.
One gentle.
Soft mist swirled around them.
They looked like divine beings.
Ji Youyou was barely conscious.
She lay curled on the ground like a drenched kitten.
Are you gods?
Did you save me?
They floated above the ground.
The twisting corridor had fallen away.
Everything was white and still.
The space was vast and empty.
Peaceful.
Yet too bright.
They drifted down like figures painted in ink.
Beautiful.
Remote.
Unreachable.
They did not answer her.
They settled to the ground and stood over her.
The paralysis returned.
An invisible force pinned her to the earth.
She could not move.
She looked up at them.
They appeared kind and holy.
Yet something in her soul knew them for demons with blades in hand.
Yu Xuanhe drew a sword of ice.
Without emotion he cut away her clothes from top to bottom as one might fillet a fish.
He cast the rags aside.
She lay bare.
She could not move.
Her mind felt dull and distant.
She looked into Yu Xuanhe’s eyes and saw herself.
Beneath the beauty lay a demon fallen into the deepest hell.
Xie Lin drew a dagger sharp enough to cut iron.
He knelt beside her.
He drove the blade into her stomach.
It hurt more than anything she had ever known.
The pain came slow.
A cold foreign presence deep inside.
A rising sickness.
Then the fire of agony spreading through every nerve.
She could not scream.
She could not fight.
She could only feel it.
Xie Lin turned the blade.
His face was still gentle and fair.
He smiled as if admiring a fine dish.
They both leaned closer.
They looked like hungry beasts ready to feed on her flesh and drink her blood.
Just as they touched her she woke.
She was trembling.
She was still inside the Demon Sealing Pagoda.
Xie Lin lay upon her.
Her clothes were gone.
He pressed against her.
She understood what was happening.
She struggled with all her strength.
Why was he doing this?
How had it come to this?
It began the night he saw Yu Xuanhe coming to her.
He had carried the hurt ever since.
He could not speak of it.
He saw no way to turn things right.
He brooded alone.
The next morning Yu Xuanhe had left early.
Xie Lin lay in the empty bed.
A heavy sadness settled over him.
It was his duty to patrol the borders and the villages.
He rose to begin his rounds.
Then the jade charm at his bedside began to glow.
It showed the face of the Divine Healer.
Lin’er I have found what we sought.
Come quickly.
Xie Lin started up.
He snatched the charm and hurried to the Healer’s palace.
Grandfather have you truly found a way?
He called out before he reached the door.
When have I ever lied to you?
The Healer stroked his long beard and held up a crystal vial.
His eyes were kind.
Thank you Grandfather.
Xie Lin reached for it.
Wait.
The Healer drew back his hand.
I have not told you how it works.
Tell me then Grandfather.
Among your people the first bond is forever.
The heart belongs only to that one.
I know that.
Tell me the rest.
Patience child.
You must take this pill.
Then you must join with the one who first lay with Xuanhe.
Bind yourself to her.
The medicine will blend your essence with hers.
When you then join with Xuanhe it will be as if you were his first.
What?
Xie Lin took the vial.
He stood quiet and pale.
So I must…
I must lie with Ji Youyou.
He walked away clutching the vial.
The Healer called after him.
Such manners.
I spent all night reading ancient scrolls for this.